12/5/23
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA!
Today was day one of our tour, and we had a family breakfast before we re-waterproofed our backpacks and loaded them onto two wooden boats with big engines to get us up the coast to Panama via Guna Yala. We sang Happy Birthday to Laura at breakfast, and then we headed off. It was a nicely smooth ride (thankfully).
We arrived in our first slice of paradise in time for lunch, an island that had been bought for precisely 50 USD based on the fact that it had precisely 5 coconut trees growing on it. In Guna Yala, coconuts were originally used as payment instead of money and are now used alongside physical money as payment for things. Therefore, owning land where money grows is well, obviously good!
The island was glorious, pure white sands, at least fifty coconut trees now, and clear turquoise waters. We had fresh coconuts waiting for us to drink, and then we had tamales, a traditional steamed corn dish with veggies and chicken inside it, for lunch. I hadn’t eaten tamales since going to Spanish school in Quito with Kai back in January, so it was nice to have some again. A few of us had a low-key contest of who could pile the most chilli sauce on top..! Afterwards, a beautiful cake came out, and we all sang to Laura again. Then we ate chocolate cake before going swimming. We chilled, and then I went for a second round of cake, this time vanilla. A troupe of wooden canoes came to the island, driven over by Guna women, clad in colourful, traditional clothing. They then got into our boats with our luggage, and Sophie, our guide, announced that we would be using their canoes to get ourselves to the next island where we would be staying the night.
Laura was ‘treated’ to a birthday canoe with an ‘outrageous’ but nice Aussie, and Aisling and I set off shortly afterwards. We zigzagged haphazardly across to our destination, grinding to a halt at a different island briefly before freeing ourselves and making it across, parking with a very dodgy ‘three’ point turn. Other boats were less successful, and two boats had to be towed in by the big boats. Everyone watching enjoyed the humiliation!
Back on land, we picked our rooms before a tour of the community living on the island began. They had meetings twice a week to discuss island/Guna affairs and meetings twice a week for singing religious songs together. Women were allowed in one of the two current affairs meetings in the week and had a singing meeting just for them. Money from our tour was going directly back into their communities, to repair buildings damaged by storms and to build more infrastructure and resources for them. There were hundreds of kids everywhere. Apparently, the island was 70% kids! Nuts! We watched some kids do a traditional dance. It was so bad, it was cute, although at times I struggled to hold in my laughs, particularly at the screechy bamboo pan flutes! Afterwards, we headed back to our accommodation, showered, and got ready for dinner.
Dinner was in the one and only restaurant on the island and consisted of Guna Fried Chicken! It was pretty good. Afterwards, everyone hung out there a while, and an interesting mix of year 6 disco and reggaeton were played! Laura requested one bachata song, but the dance wasn’t quite the birthday bachata we were hoping for! Afterwards, we headed back to our room, and Aisling and I tried to set up the back up birthday cake with its church candle (the only thing I could buy in Sapzurro!). The wind was strong, so it wasn’t so successful, but we eventually made it in time to sing to Laura with a cake one more time before bed (albeit it being while she was brushing her teeth!!). We got laughs and love so it was worth it!!!
13/5/23
Today, we had another boat ride of a couple of hours to another island. The ocean was completely different to the day before – the waves were big, and the boat bounced on top of them. Of course, I was in the outside seat once more and got drenched. Whenever I got attacked a fresh wave, I looked round to Jimmy and Ana, an Aussie-Argentinian couple behind me, to find they were even more drenched than I was. When we finally arrived at the next island, at least half of us were soaked through!! It had been an adventure, ending with us all wearing snorkel masks to stop the salty water burning our eyes when the waves leapt up at our boat. What a fetching lot we must have looked!
We took the boat to a nearby paradise island similar to the first days paradise and had a tasty lunch there. Then we chilled and some snorkelled. We returned to the other island for dinner. We all hung out, chatted, and showered pre-dinner. We had a glorious burrito dinner, and then I played cards with a few others, and then I went to dance bachata with Laura and Aisling. The bachata warm-up routine proved quite the success, and many of our tour group joined in!! After this, I watched the stars for a while and I went to bed.
14/5/23
After a tasty breakfast featuring Guna bread, we set off to our next island. We were braced for another bumpy ride, so we wore bikinis paired with raincoats accessorised only with snorkelling goggles – fashionistas, the lot of us! The ride was bumpy, but not that wet, and we arrived at our next paradise island unscathed. We chilled, ate lunch, and I went on a snorkelling tour with one of the volunteers who managed to find roaming a shrimp and a hiding lobster! I bought a hand embroidered bikini top in my fave colours: pinks and yellow (I couldn’t not!). Then we headed onwards to our final island stop, which was also beautiful and, by far, the most beautiful island we slept on.
When we arrived, we found the island had a proper bar, and after two days of only beer or coke (of which I’m keen on neither!), being available, my margarita had been ordered within minutes of stepping onto the island. Shortly after everyone had got the drinks in, Sophie, our guide, rounded us up for a photo challenge! We got into teams and then had an hour and a half to complete all the tasks! Our team finished in half the time and we thought we’d done a pretty good job, until we realised we’d only won 1/10 rounds!! It was back to cocktails again after, followed by showers before dinner where lobster was presented as a delicious surprise along with fruit punch for all!
15/5/23
Our last day in paradise! We had breakfast and then chilled out on the beach till lunch like proper beach slobs! We were meant to go and visit another ‘island’ after breakfast, but the weather was too unpredictable, so we didn’t go. The island used to be a proper island, but due to global warming, it is now completely submerged by the sea. Scary! The Guna people are very aware of future floods and have a long-term plan to move every islands’ inhabitants to the mainland of Guna Yala.
After a final tasty lunch, we headed back to the mainland by boat. Then we got 4x4s to the Guna Yala – Panama birder where we all had to get out and the cars and our bags were fully searched, our passports inspected. It was a slow process! We made it to Panama City a few hours later after stopping at a supermarket for snacks and discovering they sold steamed dim sum at the counter – what a winner!!
I checked into Laura and Aisling’s hotel as an extra guest, having been persuaded to stay one night to go to the farewell dinner of our tour. We had happy hour margaritas and scrummy food. Then we said pur goodbyes (some of us more thoroughly than others!), and headed home! Everyone was exhausted!! Long bumpy boat rides really do take it out of you!!
wanderingwelshie2 travels 